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Nehemiah: Against All Odds
A huge "THANK YOU" to Vincent Weiss for teaching us through this series, Fall of 2014. God's Word continues to speak in fresh new ways. --------------------------------------------------------------- When God sends a message to his people, there are usually two different responses. 1) Don't listen, don't change, and God has to send a larger teaching tool (consequence). 2) Listen and change, and be blessed! The problem, though, is that change is hard. And we can all come up with many "reasons" to justify keeping things the way they are. In the book of Nehemiah, we see God's people respond to a call to action. Not only that, we see repentance and a turning to God throughout the book. Kairos, we do not study through this book as a history lesson. We study through it to learn how we should be ready to respond when God gives us a message. We study through it to understand better our dire need for God. (The odds ARE stacked against us!) And we study through it to learn to apply the truth that GOD IS HERE. Lesson #1 Question of the night: Ever been in a situation that was bigger than you? Nehemiah: Against all odds. If the odds are in your favor, are you on God's side? Think about Noah, Abraham, Joseph... down to Jesus on the cross. And on to YOU. You have been called to the Great Commission - but how is this possible? 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. What are these trials? Trial: Anything that causes you to ask the question, "Where is God?" From verse 7 above, who is faith previous to? To us! We are the ones who get to cash in on our faith when God does return! Isaiah 28:16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.' Choosing faith as your foundation means saying NO to other options. CONTEXT!!! The Babylonians took the Israelites into captivity. (They didn't listen! God is the one who set the events for their captivity and release into place. Check out Jeremiah 25) In the book of Ezra, they return from captivity and eventually get the temple rebuilt. But then there is opposition and so they do not get the wall rebuilt. Imagine that - opposition!! Enter Nehemiah. He hears about the situation in Jerusalem, and his response? He wept. He fasted. He prayed. These are the of characteristics God's people. "Where is your God?" Present? Or not? Lesson #2 QOTN: On a scale of 1-10, how strong is your faith in Christ? Discussion - What things weaken faith? Christians are people of faith. That MEANS something! You don't always know what's happening next. Nehemiah was strong in the roughest of situations. Why? Some things that don't make sense - * Athletes who don't train * Scientists who don't experiment * Mountain climbers who take the elevator * A Christian who doesn't PRACTICE THEIR FAITH Nehemiah practiced his faith! Most of us don't like to be in situations where we are "forced" to trust in God. But they can turn out to be the best moments of our lives. We ended the evening with the Family Groups acting out their skits on, "What is the purpose of prayer?" Lesson #3 Vincent started off the night by reminding us that we should practice our faith - even when it doesn't make sense! Because, when we take that step of faith and God shows up... our faith grows! Nehemiah 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. We see that prayer and fasting is NOT a "last ditch" approach for Nehemiah. Prayer: Let's use Matthew 6:5-18 to better understand this. * v5 Don't pray to be seen by others * v6-8 God is unseen, but He is there! It's an act of faith to pray, and God does reward that! God loves it when you are in situations where He is the only one who can bring you through. * v9-13 Teaches us how to pray, and it starts with God. Vincent drew a direct correlation between prayer and trust. When the baby cries and the parents feed it, it builds trust. Same with us and God. We stopped here and shared personal stories about how God has answered prayer. Fasting: Vincent started this off with a guys story from the Las Vegas mission trip. This guy randomly read a Bible, and read Matthew 6:16-18 about fasting. So he decided to fast from cigarettes. And God showed up and did some awesome things. And this guy concluded , "The Word of God really works!" So we turned to Isaiah 58:6-12 to learn more about fasting. * v6 Fasting is not always for you. You can fast for others. * v7 It aligns our desires and wants with God's. * v8-9 The glory of the Lord is behind you. God will say, "Here I am." * v10-12 Fasting will make you stronger! The conclusion was that there is a direct correlation between fasting and strength. Fasting trains you to rely on God more than you, making you stronger. Again we stopped and shared fasting stories. This reminded us of the 12 Step Series in Kairos, and how fasting led into a night of repentance. From here we covered verses 1:5-2:8. Verse 5 reminded us that covenant relationships are founded on commitment. Verse 9 pointed to God living in us now, as the place where "his name dwells." Coming into chapter 2 we find that Nehemiah has been praying and fasting for about 4 months now. When he approaches the King and the King asks, "What is it you want?" in 2:4, Nehemiah is bold and is ready to answer. He was betting on God answering his prayers, and he wants to REBUILD! You see, God was doing something while Nehemiah was praying and fasting. Egypt was being a bit rebellious, and King Artaxerxes was probably looking to defend his borders. So when Nehemiah asked, God had already paved the way for Artaxerxes to say YES! Finally, we went into Family Groups with the instructions to Identify Broken Walls, to find out who was hurting, who needed prayers. And then to pray about how we could be a part of repairing those broken walls. It was a good, good time. Lesson #4 We started off the night with Family Groups moving a marble through 2 foot sections of pipe, across a wide stretch of the room. It was teamwork at it's best, keeping the marble from falling out, and working together to keep recycling the pipes around to move the marble. (Hhmmm - a learning lesson here?!) 2:17-20 Nehemiah went out and got an "outside perspective" on the situation. Who has an "outside perspective" on your life? Where have you grown complacent? 2:18 This wasn't just about Nehemiah - it was about God. And God is with us! 2:19-20 Doing meaningful things for the Kingdom will result in ridicule. In this case, the ridicule was not even about the wall, it was about the political and trade situation. Often this is the case - someone is using ridicule to push their own agenda through. With Nehemiah, up until now he has been shown favor. Now he is facing some opposition! Where is YOUR God? Nehemiah's faith has grown, and he boldly proclaims, "The God of Heaven will give us success!" Use history (the Bible's and your own) to stand fast against ridicule. Ch 3 - "And next to them." "And next to them." And on and on. They were unified and working together - like the marble game. Many different people working all together to make it all happen. Today Jesus has given us his Spirit, and working together we can accomplish Great Things. Why did they rebuild? Many reasons, including For Themselves! They were building a legacy. They were a part of something bigger than themselves. All of history will point to them as the ones who chose faith, who stood their ground, and with God's helping accomplished something bigger than any one of them could ever have dreamed of accomplishing. Matthew 13:44 - The treasure hidden in the field. He hid it, went and sold all, and bought it! "Godly selfishness!" 1 Cor 3:10-15 Laid a foundation, the builder will receive a reward! Is it about works or grace? It's NOT about salvation, it's about REWARDS! Christ loves to reward people. The Kingdom is built on rewards. Matthew 25:14-21 The parable of the talents. Bags of gold, each according to his own ability! Vincent had another graph for us, this time with "Walking in your calling" (Being a part of what God is trying to do) on the X-axis, and JOY on the Y-axis. And he clarified that in this case, it is not a a simple positive slope. In this case, it's an Exponential curve! A little "walking in your calling" brings MUCH Joy! Let's keep walking by faith, discovering our calling and participating in a cause that is much bigger than ourselves. We have that in Kairos! Reach out and love a friend. Welcome in someone who is new to the journey. Go on the Las Vegas mission trip. Change the world! Lesson #5 QOTN: How do you deal with conflict, inside and outside of your ability to influence the situation? Vincent took us through chapters 4 and 5 during this lesson. Here are some nuggets from the lesson... * We can't always control outside forces, but we can pray! * Satan's game is distraction. What will it take to get your mind off God? * Once you doubt what can be accomplished, your service decreases. * Fill in the blank with a name. Is it impossible or not for God to bring ___________ into the Kingdom? * Remember your prayers, so that you can be reminded of God's answers! * Num 10:9 Sound the trumpet and you will be remembered by God! * Ch 4 was about conflict outside of Nehemiah's control. Remember God and have faith. * Ch 5 turns to conflict within our control. We are called to do something. * Rebuke: An Expression of sharp disapproval because of actions. * Rebuke is good for the soul! * Nehemiah did not need to pray about if rebuke was the right thing to do, he just needed to act. * Proverbs 17:10, 24:25, 18:23, 27:5 Our God is a rebuking God! Vincent finished the lesson with a teaching on the power of a rebuke. Jesus rebukes his disciples, the wind and the sea, sickness and demons. Those things are all under his control. When Jesus rebukes you, the purpose is to bring about change! Wouldn't you love the kind of rebuke when someone helps you to do what's right? Luke 17:3 “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. Lesson #6 QOTN: What's something you have learned from someone at Kairos? Neh 6:15-16 They finished the wall in 52 days! This could only be done with the help of God. But before they finished the wall there was another challenge. Sanballat was at it again. In Neh 6:1 the strategy was to distract Nehemiah. Do whatever it took to get the focus off of the job at hand. The Enemy always wants us to be distracted. We were reminded that God has things He wants us to be doing. When we pursue these things, we experience the Glory of God. When the world distracts us, we don't. Serving is a big part of keeping our focus on God. 1 Cor 12 reminds us of the "body analogy" - how that we all have different roles but come together to make a complete unit. And if anyone does not know what their calling is, they haven't learned what they need to know to be successful in that calling. Now you can either learn through trial and error (not always a good idea), or you can learn through instruction, through mentoring. Disciples make disciples. The people around you have what you need to be successful in you calling, just as you have what the next person needs to be successful in his/her calling. Matthew 28:16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold,I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Vincent wrapped up with a mini sermon on Chronos groups. If you want to know your calling, if you want to be firmly planted, if you want to be fulfilling your role in the body, if you want to be a part of the discipling and being discipled process, if you want to be better prepared for your eventual transition out of Kairos, if you want to be a part of a legacy that's going to last........ GET IN A CHRONOS GROUP! Start asking around and beg and plead to be added to an existing group! Check out this link for more info on the groups: Chronos Groups Lesson #7 QOTN: Share about a time when you repented. Chapter 7 - A call for a census. The geneology mattered in showing that you belonged. Consider Rev 20:12-15 "The books were opened..." John 8:39 "If God were your father you would love me!" God is redefining fatherhood! Chapter 8 - The Law is read. Weeping due to disobedience. It was a reavealing of God, through the written word. They had been separated from God through their sin, but God does pursue those who are stuck in sin! Vincent shared a story about being stuck in sin, but concluded that "it's always the right time to serve God!" Chapter 9 - Confession. The remembered God. We need to vocalize our stories. We need to remember what God has done. Chapter 10 - Repentance and vows to serve God. There is power when we remember God's faithfulness in our own lives. Lesson #8 Note - Thanks to Katie (Kopchik) Moore for typing these up! Maybe she should have been summarizing all of them?!?! :-) QOTN: What are some characteristics of a good spouse? Nehemiah 13:23-27 *-describing things Nehemiah is seeing when he returns to Jerusalem * -men married to foreign women * -his response=rebuke for being unfaithful * -reference to remember King Solomon, wisest man on Earth, even he was led into sin by foreign women Why is being married to foreign women such an offense??? -Deuteronomy 7:3-4 --for they will turn your children away from following me -2 Corinthians 6:14 --“yoked” = for the purpose of accomplishing a task, not just emotional support… -Marriage is not some casual relationship, you can’t be pulling in the same direction (as 2 yoked oxen) if your natures are different from each other A spouse is a life partner -What were you made to do? -Important characteristic of a spouse is that they are a Christian (not a “foreigner”) -Matthew 7:22-23 --Anyone could claim to be Christian -1 John 2:3-5 --qualification of someone who knows Christ=obey commands --a foreigner is someone who doesn't follow His commands 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and 2 Timothy 3:6 -gullible people fall into this lie “God is not enough and what He has provided is not enough” -Anyone ever thought: “If I’m not married by the time I’m 30, I am a failure in life”? Emotional Dependence *-need a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife in order to feel accomplished, worthy, meaningful * -couple that looks like an A is overly dependent, will fall over if cut in half * -couple that looks like an M if cut in half, each side will still be standing on its own * -If God hasn't given you a husband or a wife, He wants you to stand on your own first Process of going from an A to an M 1 Corinthians 7:26-27 & 35 * -If you spend your energy looking for a spouse, you won’t find one. Or you might, but not a good one. *-A good spouse comes form God. * --God is jealous for you * --The point is to pursue God and find confidence in Him, be content * --enjoy singleness Genesis 2:15 -foundation of woman was to work along side man as his “helper” Proverbs 19:14 * --prudent=having or showing careful, good judgment, marked by wisdom or judiciousness, shrewd in the management of practical affairs *--*from the Lord Proverbs 31 Woman * --31:16 *wisdom * --as a woman, you have the ability to bring respect to your husband by your work * --she is not idle, doesn’t get into a relationship because she needs something